When he reprinted in the poem in Heartsease and Rue, Lowell made some verbal changes, and in this passage substituted “the Land of Honest Abraham” for the “Land of Broken Promise.” One may ponder over the change and settle it with himself which stings more, irony or sarcasm.
[60] The letter was also printed by Mr. Norton in Letters, with a few of the omitted passages filled in.
[61] The reference is to a volume by Mr. William Cleaver Wilkinson, entitled A Free Lance in the Field of Life and Letters, published in 1874, which contained three papers on “Mr. Lowell’s Poetry,” “Mr. Lowell’s ‘Cathedral,’” and “Mr. Lowell’s Prose.” In a letter to Mrs. Clifford (Letters, ii. 290) Lowell refers to this book apparently when he says: “You will be glad to hear that a man once devoted an entire volume to the exposure of my solecisms, or whatever he chose to call them. I never read it—lest it should spoil my style by making it conscious.” The papers on Lowell constitute, however, less than a third of Mr. Wilkinson’s book.
[62] See, for further detail, Mr. E. P. Bliss’s statement in Letters, ii. 160, 161, footnote.
[63] Mr. Blaine.
[64] Letters, ii. 171.
[65] Letters, ii. 173-178.
[66] Literary Friends and Acquaintances, pp. 237, 238.
[67] Elmwood, 5 June, 1877. Letters, ii. 104.
[68] To Miss Grace Norton. Letters, ii. 195, 196.